Loose-leaf binder



May 1,1928. 1,668,069

K c:.4 c. GRUHLER f y y LoosE LEAF Innen filed llvarch '7e 192'?v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Chiamato May 1, 192s.` 1,668,069-

C. C. GRUHLER LOQSE LEAF BINDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filedlrch v," 1927 Muis C' @fu/H4 en QQ, M 1.1 .-v wff E@ al@ wl@ mw @www M.

l fingers of the ASIS dra Patented May 1, 19u28. y UNI-TED STA GHABLES GRUHLEB, Ol' FORT THOMAS, KENTUCKY.

:nommer Bumm.

Application mea miren 7, 1927. serial narrano.

The present disclosure of the invention relates to loose leaf binders of a. t pe em; bodying a channel-shaped back mem en havi ingllingev means permitting outward swinging of its opposite sides-` for the pur of moving leaf-impaling fingers carried Y y said sides, ollt of overlapping relation-with each other, allowing removing, transposing, i11- sertion or adjustment of leaves, as 'occasion may demand.. Y

v It is one object of the invention. to providev unique means, in a device of this character, for normally holding 'the opposite halves of l Lthechannel-shaped back. member against outs. 15 ,ward swinging, said means however, being releasable -t0 perlnit such swinging when de# sired. V

The invention,4 further vrelates to aloose leaf binder in. which, at least one set of the leaf-impaling fingers is carried by a' slide strip, means being provided for normally holding the strip against sliding, so 'that the one set, extend intoA overlapping staggered relation with the fingersi of the Yother set. A It is al further object of ythe invention to construct the slide stri ,the mountingmeans therefor, andthe ho ding means for said strip, in such a manner that upon release of said holding means, thestrip may bebodily slid-,from the remainderof the binder, or. may be slid fsuilicientlyV to. bring fingers ofA the one set. into alinement with fingers of the other set, permitting transfer of sheets from one half of the binder as to the other.

Preferably,"

` carried by slide strips,

. that by havi of lingers carried thereb removable entirely 4o from the remainder of tile bindel',the leaves from either or both halves of lsaid binder may be bodily removed whenever `this shoul become desirable. Normally, the leavesof i either half of the'binder are se ted from both sets of thewfingersare and' it will be seenA those of the other half, due to t e .normal staggered relationof the fingers of the two sets, said relation reventm sliding of vleives from one-hal of the k t0 the other, untilithe two sets .of fingers are relativeyset to permit such sliding; f-

ith the foregoing in view, e invention resides 4in the novel subject `matter hereinafterdescribd andl claimed,-the description being..- supplemented by accompanying Fig. llis a perspective vlewof-ja loose these strips and the two sets f,

binder constructed in accordance with my invention. o v Fig. 2 is a sectional view as. indicated by line2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view at right les go 2, as indicated by line 3 3 of lgs. an

Fig.4 is aview similar to Fig. 3, but illustrating the opposite sides of the channelshaped back member-swung outwardly from each other. a

Fig. 5 is a detail view similar t0 a ortion of Fig. 2,=,the means for normally olding the opposite sides of the back member a ainst outward swinging', being shown in re eased position. 'l

Fig. 6 is a detail `sectional view onlille`l 6`6 of Fi 2, illustrating-primarily, the preferredv orm oflocking means for the fin er-carrying, slide strips. i

l nthe 'drawings above briefly described, certain specific details have been-shownf'for lllustrative pur oses,j and while these detalls will be rat ler s ecifically described, it

is to be understood t at within the scope ofthaeainvention as. claimed,l variations may be nl e.

Y, The,v numeral '7 designates 'a channelsha ed back member to which the front and bac 849 .of the binder, are" hingedl nected by any desired means-10, said' member 7 preferably consisting of two right-an lar sections hingedtogether at 11, so that t e opposed sides 12 of said member, may swing outwardly (see Fi 4)'.when deaired. Novel revision is ma e however for normally hol lng the sides 12in 'fixed rela` tlon with each other, as ,seenfin Figs. 1 'and.3. d i

Near`each end of the 'back member .7, I provlde -two slidably connected' stays lll-14, said sta s bein pivotedat 13! and 14, respective y, to t e sides 12 of the back member 7, the pivotal axes being parallel fwthf' the hings 1-1. It will thus be seen, that as long as thestays 13-14l.are held against y relative sliding, the back member v7 must maintain a rigid, channeled stays is permitted however, th/e'sidesv 12 of the back ,member 7', may swing outwardly as shown in theirnormal poumons.

Preferably, the' vsta 13--14-1are 'in the form of flat w 'ch voverlap each other, the rip 13.being" .provided at l form as seen in` Figs. 1 .and 3. When relative slidingfof the Figfand again inwardly to.

its free end with fingers 13b which slidably embrace the strip 14, whilev the latter strip is equipped with fingers 14b engage the strip 13.

The two strips 14 carry alined Guides 15 which slidably receive a rod 16, and this rod carries a pair of wedges 17 disposed at the outer sides of the strips 13, said wedges preferably having hubs 18 secured by set screws 19 upon the rods. By this construction, when the rod 16 is slid in one direction, the wedges 17 and rod 16 will effect tight clamping of the strips 13 and 14 together, so that the sides 12 of theback meniber cannot swing outwardly. when rod 16 is slid inthe opposite as seen in Fig. 5, the wedges 17 free the strips 13--14, for relative sliding, permitting the back member 7 to open about the hinge 11 as seen in Fig. 4. For sliding the rod 16 in the necessary manner, I prefer to rovide it with a laterally turnedend 20, and) to limit the movement of said rod which releases the wedges 17, stop collars 2l may well be secured on said rod to strike the guides 15. y In the preferred form of (construction, each wedge 17 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally disposed ridges 17, and the co-acting strip 13, is formed with transverse ridges17", the two sets of ridges inter-engaging each other as clearly shown in Figs. 2 an 3 to positively hold the strips 13-14 lagainst relative sliding. This locking of the strips may be effected either when the back member 7 isv closed as in Fig. 3 or open as in Fig. 4.

Channel-shaped guideways 22 have been shown secured to the inner faces of the sides 12, and two slide strips 23 'are engaged with these guideways, each of said strips carrying a set of leaf-impalingI fingers 24. The fingers of one set normali extend into overlapping relation -with the fingers of the ot er set as seen in Figs. 1 and 3, and the However, direction,

. fingers of the two sets are then disposed half of the binder to the other.

. from the back in staggered relation. Hence, no leaves impaled upon one set of' fingers can slide onto the other set, under normal circumstances. However,A when the back member 7 is opened as shown in Fig. 4, the' slide strips 23 may be relatively adjusted, so that fingers of one set may be brought into alinement with those of the opposed set. Hence, the leavesmay readily 'be transferred from one Moreover, attention is invited to the fact that the slide strips 23, the .guideways 22,.-and lockin said locking means, either or both of thestrips 23 may be slid .entirely 7, and thus the leaves from either or both halves of the bin'dermay be bodily removed whenever this is desired.

v.for certain other which slidably members Sliding of the strips 23 isalso advantageous be herein stated.

The locking means above referred to, for

the slide strip 23, preferably comprises an,

arm 25 Jivoted at 26 to one end portion of the gui eway 22, said arm having a lateral end 27 for reception in a notch 28 in the strip 23. This construction is shown clearly in Figs. 2, 5 and 6. W'hen'the arm 25 is iu' the position of Figs. 2 and 6, the slide stripv 23 is held against sliding but when said arm is swung to the position of Fig. 5, sliding of said strip to any desired extent, in either direction, is allowed.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided a generally improved loose leaf binder whose princi al novelty resides in the manner of slidably mounting the fingers 24 and in the vision which has been made for normally holding the sides 12 of the back member 7, in rigid relation with each other. While again referring to this means, attention may be invited to the fact that the free end of Strip 14 preferably free endv of strip 13 preferably abuts hinge 14a, when the back 7 assumes its normal position. Hence, the inward movement of the sides 12 toward each other, is limited and the hingedly connected cannot move outwardly beyond thel intended position.

1. In a loose leaf binder having a channelshaped back member provided with yhinge means permitting outward swinging of its opposite sides; two slidably connected stay members jointly extending between said sides and pivoted thereto respectively on axes parallel with the hinge axis, and releasable means embodying a wedge for normally holding said stay members against relative sliding to hold said sides in fixed relation with each other.

2. In a loose leaf binder having a channelshaped back member provided with hinge means permitting outward swinging of lts opposed sides; two slidably connected stay jointly extending between said sides and `pivoted thereto respectively on axes' arallel with the hinge axis, and rel'easab e means for normally holding said stay members against relative sliding to hold said sides in fixed relation with each other, saidreleasable means embodying a gether. 3. In a loose leaf binder having a channelshaped back member provided with hin means permitting outward swinging of its opposed sides; two slidably overlapped stay strips jointl extending between said sides and pivoted abuts hinge 13, and the portions of the back 7,V

ereto respectively on axes parpurposes which need not n y g Wedge for holding said stay members tightly means for'said sllde-strlps (yet to be deto ascribed) are all of such construction that n upon release of versely of the stay allel to the hinge, a guide extending transversely of the outer side of `one of said strips, a wedge to engage the outer side of the other of said strips, and a rod carryin said yvedge, said'rod slidably engaging said guide to mount the wedge for sliding transl strips, said wedge and rod when in one position holding saidA strips tightly together t0 resist relative sliding of said strips.

4. A structure as specified in claim 3; together with longitudinal ridges on the wedge, and transverse ridges on said other strip, the two sets o ridges engaging each other when the wedge isin said one position and thereby positively7 holding the two strips against relative sliding.

5. In a loose Vleaf binder havlng hingedly connected members, a` set of leaf-impaling fingers carried by one of `said members, a slide strip carrying a second set of fingers, means slidably mounting said slide strip on the other of said members, the fingers of said one set norm'allyextending into over-- lapped staggered relation with the fingers of said second set, and means for normally holding said uslide strip against sliding; saidslide strip being freely slidable entirely from said mounting means upon release of said holding means, permitting leaves from one half of the binder to bebodily removed; sliding of said strip also permitting alinement of fingers of the two sets to permit transfer of sheets from one half of the binder to the other;

6. In a loose leaf binder having a channelshaped back' member provided with hinge means ermitting outward swinging of its oppose sides, and -releasable means normally preventin such outward swinging; two opposed gui eways carried by said sides of said back member and extending longi holding means are released and the sides of the channel-shaped back are spread apart, thereby permitting the lleaves from either half of the binder to be bodily removed; sliding of the strips also permitting alinement of fingers of the two sets to permit transfer of sheets from one half of the binder to the other. ,4

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature. s

CHARLES C. GRUHLER. 

